danz75

So I went to 3 reputable body shops in the area and the estimates came back with the lowest at $805 and the highest at $974. A lot more than what I had expected. Reason was that they need to blend the paint in. I'll talk to the other guy and see what they say.

I hate to have them pay for the damage as well. If it was a minor ding, I would probably have let them go but with the sheet metal pierced and paint cracked and chipped off I need to get this fixed so that it will not start rusting and cause future problems. I guess japanese cars generally have a softer skin. I'll get an estimate tomorrow so I know what type of damage we're talking about.

If I had 200k miles on my car, I would agree with you fully but my car has 28K miles and I would like to have a operational door at 200k and not rusted from the inside out.

So I took a cloaser look at the dent tonight under a brighter light and saw that the dent was deep enough that it pushed the top part of the panel above the crease line out. Now I'm wondering if it's cheaper to fix the damage or to replace the door sheet metal. I'll try to get a quote from the subaru dealer tomorrow as well and compare it to other body shops.

This is on my 03 OBW silver which i've babied and kept it in excellent condition. I just could not believe the damage that happened. She must have swung that door out so fast and hard to do that type of damage. I didn't think air bags would deploy since I was definitely going a lot less than 5mph and i don't have side airbags. Although the damage seems to be very bad to me, I think the body shop will be able to repair it well because the damaged is localized to a small area. They might not even have to repaint the entire door. The guy who owns the blazer just called me and he told me that he would like to settle the matter privately instead of making a claim because he does not want his insurance to go up. I guess he figures that he being 21 with a group of college friends will probably not go well with insurance claims. So he wants me to get an estimate and he said that he will make his passenger pay half of the costs and he will cover the other half. I'll get the estimate on monday and go on from there.

I was going to pull into a parking lot today and a chevy blazer (with a bunch of high school kids)had just pulled into the lot on the right just before. the left rear passenger door had the door cracked open and i waited for her to get out but she did not and closed the door again. So i presumed that they were waiting for me to pull in before getting out. I inched slowly into the lot and when I was halfway into the lot, she(left rear passenger) suddenly flung the door wide open and the bottom of her door dug into my front passenger door. I stopped immediately and she panicked and tried to yank the door back but could not. I had to reverse slightly before she could shut the door. I got out and looked at the damage and could not believe what I saw. The dent/hole was about the size of a penny and the paint cracked. The driver claimed it was not his fault because he was parked. I waited for them to get out but they did not and I was pulling in the parking lot slowly. There was no way I could have seen her fling the door and with me half way into the lot, there was nothing i could have done either. My wife was in the passenger seat and she said that the girl flung the door open quickly and she felt the impact of their door hitting our door. Amazingly, the chevy sustained no damage because it was the bottom, sharp corner of their door that dug into my door. So since no one was admitting fault, I made a claim to my insurance company since i know that it's going to cost a lot for the dent/hole to be fixed. I wonder how the insurance company is going to say who's fault it is.

PM'd you.

I'm in the process of evaluating the 07 Legacy GT and the 07 Legacy SE. I have an 03OBW and have been pleased with the handling. A/T is so-so...I wish it was a M/T but the wife only drives auto. So having an 03OBW, I am familiar with the engine, handling, maintenance etc...but I have not had any experience with a turbo and am wondering if reliability, resale value, maintenance is still around the same or better/worse? Does a turbo need any extra care, or more costly maintenance down the road? I know that the GT takes premium gas so and iridium plugs but timing belt, 30k yr, 60k, 90k maintenance costs? Also, do you have to drive a turbo agressively to keep it running in good condition or will it be fine if driven like a normal car? Cost between a SE and GT is about $7k and it is because they don't offer the 07 limited in M/T. The other car that we're also considering is a Honda Accord EX but that is only because of honda's traditional higher resale value but in my own opinion, I prefer the handling of a Subaru. Any suggestions/opinions?

I like Axxis pads. They do the job very well and I haven't had any problems with them. The downside is that they do dust quite a bit. I've tried the Ultimates and the XBG and have no complains so far.

So I was looking at this thread and am wondering if I have the same problem. About a month ago, I took my brakes apart to clean the rotors and pads because i felt the steering wheel pulsating at high speeds braking. I noticed that the bottom slide pin on both callipers were stuck. I pulled them out, cleaned out the old lub and put new calliper lub in them. I had a very difficult time getting them back in because it seems like the rubber sleeves on the pins have somewhat expanded and when I push the pin back in, the rubber sleeve would slide out. After squeezing and pushing, and also used a rubber mallet to tap the pin in, i managed to get the pin with rubber sleeve in. I made sure that the pins were sliding freely before i put the brakes back together. I also used brake cleaner to clean out the rotors and pads. I've been told that these rotors are really thin and it's not good to turn them but since my 03 OBW has only 25k mi on and my pads still have a lot of material left, i hope that this would solve the problem. Despite all this, my steering wheel still vibrates at high speed when I brake hard. Other than replacing the rotors, are there any options? After reading this thread, I am suspecting that it might be the calliper pins that needs to be replaced? I've priced them at the dealership and they run about $14 each so I'm looking at $14*4 for the fronts if I replace them. I've seen rubber slides on calliper pins on other cars but not as big and loose as what I have on my 03 OBW. BTW, brake fluid was replaced with Castrol LMA last year. Suggestions?

How about the +ve wire from alternator to the battery? Make sure that all connecting surfaces are free from rust and clean. coat the mating surfaces with dielectric grease. That would narrow it down to either the alternator, battery or wire harness. If the harnesse prove to be good, then make sure that it is clamped tight. I've had one before that I thought was tight but was not when I moved the wire a little. Also check the wire to battery terminal clamps to make sure that the surface is not rusted. They only cost a few dollars so replacing them is worth it. I think i replied to your other post about this problem. When I replaced the alternator with a remanufacturered one from autozone, i had to replace them 3 times before i had a good one. I wanted to save that extra $$$ so I decided to go for the one at autozone instead of a subaru one. My mistake. I don't know if the steps will work for you but that's what I did to solve mine. let me know what you find out. DS

Your symptoms are somewhat similar to an incident that happened to me sometime last year. The car would start fine sometimes and some other times, it clicks but won't start. Thinking it was the battery, I replaced it and it worked fine for a day. The next day when I went out to start the car, it wouldn't start. Finally, traced it to a partially broken ground stud in the alternator. I would never have thought about to look there but when I took it out, the ground stud felt somewhat loose so I took it into autozone to be tested and it fired up fine for them. Anyway, I went ahead replaced it and it was fine after that. Check the ground cable as well cause if it's broken internally or somehow not having a good connection, I don't think it it would fully charge the battery.

Just out of curiosty, what the best way to clean out all the old calliper lube? I usually use q-tips and thin rags but can't seem to get the gunk completely out. So I'm assuming these rubber sleeves do expand over time and it is a normal occurance. This is the first time I've seen these rubber sleeves expand. Usually, it's either the calliper pin slightly bent or worn on one side or slightly rusted. Thanks for letting me know.

I have an 03 OBW and decided to check the brakes and do an annual clean/service. Found the bottom calliper pins on both front sides stuck. It took quite a bit of force to get them free and I cleaned up the old calliper lube in there and applied new lube. Then, I found that I couldn't get them back into the hole. After trying for a few minutes, I found that the little rubber sleeves on the pins have somehow expanded and when I try to push the pin into the hole, the rubber sleeve slides outwards therefore 'jamming' the pin. So I figured it's probably time to replace them. Called Autozone, Shucks and they do not seem to have them in stock. Called up the subaru dealer and they told me that it will be $9 per side for the fronts and they have to order them and it will take 4 days to come in. Is this not a commonly replaced part? I have always thought that calliper pins are a commonly replaced part and usually one of the first things that wear on brakes. Any ideas?

Mine sounded like a low grinding kinda noise. front wheel bearings went out at 25K mi on an 03 OBW.

Sorry about your loss. I have the 03 OBW with the winter package as well. The heated mirrors are the only thing that does not have a timer on it. I try to remember to turn it off after the mirrors clear up. I definitely have to pay more attention to it from now on. Would definitely like to find out if it is a potential problem.

I have the same anti-freeze smell after driving awhile. I've looked in the coolant overflow bottle but did not see any oil or bubbling in it. How would I check for a potential headgasket failure situation without taking it to the dealer? I still have a few months warranty left and would like to address it if this is indeed the problem. Thanks

Got the tool finally. Ordered it from the website you mentioned and it took about 3 days to get here. Worked like a charm. It appears that the plug wasn't very tight at all and it turned very easily.

You shouldn't need to remove the nut in order to remove the rotor. Once the caliper is removed, the rotor should be loose and only held back by the caliper bracket. There are 2 bolts that hold the bracket to the hub. Once that is out, you should be able to slide the rotor off. That's the way for my 03 OBW.

I've used Merguires and so far it's good.

I had the Great Neck impact driver from Autozone. Supposed to exert 200lbs of force but at the end, the screw was still stuck and the screwbit was completely stripped. I returned it for a full refund.

After I replied to your post, I read your posts on page 1 and think that we're talking about different cars. Mine is a 03 OBW auto so it has a separate front diff/tranny. I'm not sure what the other models have so I would have to refer it to someone more knowledgeble. Sorry for the confusion.

My auto tranny fluid was pretty easy to replace. However, I remember reading somewhere(can't find that post) that each drain would be able 4L....I was only able to drain out 3 qts each time(at running temperature). Pretty easy job. I drained it 3 times and on the last time, replaced the filter. My front differential uses the T70 bit to remove the drain plug. I have that on order and have not received it yet. I hope that tool will suffice.

I called up awrtools but they do not list that set. Do you have the product number?

I looked through Sears webpage but couldn't find any t70. Will call them up later to check..but does anyone know where I can get this T70 bit? Thanks